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The 19th century group known popularly as the Martha Washingtonians was a temperance society composed of wives, mothers, sisters, and other female relatives of drunken men. Though some historians would say that the women in this society were progressive simply because they often behaved in ways uncommon to women of the time - taking to the streets to hand out flyers or to publicly exhort individuals - it is more appropriate to consider them a conservative group. They had no desire to change America in any way besides alcohol consumption.

According to its use in the passage above, which of the following is the best synonym for the word "conservative"?

I believe the answer is E because the context of the passage, especially the last sentence, leans closer to American tradition than it does a broad aversity to change. Answer D is too broad and in my reading, contradicts the purpose the Washingtonians "taking to the streets to publicly exhort individuals". Moreover, I believe the last sentence, "no desire to change ...besides alcohol consumption" admits one desire of change (alcohol consumption).

"Though some historians would say that the women in this society were progressive simply because they often behaved in ways uncommon to women of the time - taking to the streets to hand out flyers or to publicly exhort individuals - it is more appropriate to consider them a conservative group. They had no desire to change America in any way besides alcohol consumption."

The point of the passage is to counter the thought that they were "progressive" overall which could have plenty meanings but the author gives us a hint when he describes taking to the streets and public exhortation as progressive behavior. They were only progressive in the sense of grassroots campaigning for temperance. Overall they were conservative. If progressive means doing those things to bring about change on a general level then conservative means to keep things the same. So D is correct. It's not too broad. E is not at all warranted by the passage because there's no mention of any respect for tradition. _________________

The 19th century group known popularly as the Martha Washingtonians was a temperance society composed of wives, mothers, sisters, and other female relatives of drunken men. Though some historians would say that the women in this society were progressive simply because they often behaved in ways uncommon to women of the time - taking to the streets to hand out flyers or to publicly exhort individuals - it is more appropriate to consider them a conservative group. They had no desire to change America in any way besides alcohol consumption.

According to its use in the passage above, which of the following is the best synonym for the word "conservative"?

I can certainly see the attraction to choice E and I leaned that way as a first reaction. However, upon a second reading of the passage, I noticed that there was no explicit mention of traditions in the passage. The author dances around the idea that women did not usually take to the streets in protest, which could be seen as a mention of something women did not traditionally[i][/i] do. However, the tangental reference was not solid enough for me.

More importantly, take a look at the logical flow from the latter half of the second sentence to the third sentence. The second half of the second sentence says "it is more appropriate to consider them a conservative group." The next sentence begins with "They had no desire to change...". Based off the transition between those two sentences, it is logical to assume that conservative means adverse to change.

The 19th century group known popularly as the Martha Washingtonians was a temperance society composed of wives, mothers, sisters, and other female relatives of drunken men. Though some historians would say that the women in this society were progressive simply because they often behaved in ways uncommon to women of the time - taking to the streets to hand out flyers or to publicly exhort individuals - it is more appropriate to consider them a conservative group. They had no desire to change America in any way besides alcohol consumption.

According to its use in the passage above, which of the following is the best synonym for the word "conservative"?

I believe the answer is E because the context of the passage, especially the last sentence, leans closer to American tradition than it does a broad aversity to change. Answer D is too broad and in my reading, contradicts the purpose the Washingtonians "taking to the streets to publicly exhort individuals". Moreover, I believe the last sentence, "no desire to change ...besides alcohol consumption" admits one desire of change (alcohol consumption).

Agree with D.

The passage doesnot talk about the tradition however it talks about the change. We can imply "their having no desire to change" as "adverse to change. _________________